2026 Leapmotor C10 BEV & REEV Review

With the increasing dominance of Tesla and BYD in the electric vehicle market, it’s now a race between the smaller players to disrupt that monopoly. Hungry for a bigger slice of the pie is Chinese EV brand Leapmotor. Relatively new to the Australian market, Leapmotor has been aggressively building up its local line-up. In a span of just 18 months, the brand’s portfolio has grown from just a single mid-size SUV model to include a second compact SUV and a hatchback. There are also now plug-in hybrid models in addition to pure electric variants.

What’s a better way to assess the brand than to evaluate its first model to launch Down Under? For this review we drove the Leapmotor C10 battery electric vehicle (BEV) and its hybrid counterpart the C10 Range Extender Electric Vehicle (REEV). And here goes our findings.

How much does it cost?

With the medium electric SUV segment now one of most tightly contested, a competitive pricing strategy is important. Leapmotor understands just that. The C10 REEV in entry-level Style trim comes in at a very sharp $43,888. Going full electric, in the C10 Style BEV guise, is a $2,000 premium bringing the sticker to $45,888. Moving upper spec, the C10 Design REEV is priced at $47,888, while the C10 Design REV Long Range asks for $49,888. All prices exclude on-road costs.

What are the competitors?

The Leapmotor C10 is around the same size as a Tesla Model Y and BYD Sealion 7. Comparing apples with apples, the C10 Style BEV is some $9,100 cheaper than the base Sealion 7, and a whopping $13,000 less expensive than the Model Y RWD.

Looking around the wider segment, the C10 BEV also competes with the Geely EX5 ($43,490), Deepal S07 ($53,900), Xpeng G6 ($54,800), Kia EV5 Air ($56,770) and Toyota bZ4X 2WD ($55,990). It’s apparent the C10 BEV is among the most affordable medium electric SUVs currently on sale in Australia.

Is there anything interesting about the design?

The Leapmotor C10 has a restrained design that’s clean and classy. It’s unlikely to win any design awards or turn heads on the street, but not every buyer is after that kind of attention. As a family SUV, the C10 places greater emphasis on interior space and practicality than sporty exterior styling.

The models on test were both the upper-spec Design grade, which rode on very stylish 20-inch wheels coated in matte grey. They turned out to be one of our favourite design elements of the car. The base Style variant rolls on smaller 18-inch wheels.

How is the interior?

Our first impression upon stepping into the cabin was just how sparse it feels. The minimalist design does away with most physical buttons and knobs, leaving the two display screens as the dashboard’s dominant features.

Even the steering wheel controls and power window switches have been simplified to the point where their operation isn’t immediately intuitive. Expect to spend some time figuring things out, and if you get stuck—as we did—you’ll probably end up reaching for the owner’s manual.

A restrained application of polished silver trim inserts around the door cards and steering wheel helps lift cabin ambience, though we feel the centre console could also do with a few bright highlights to balance the overall design.

Build quality and fit and finish is good, with everything feeling tight and well aligned. Material choices are also commendable, with most upper surfaces soft to the touch. We especially like the premium-feeling suede-like dark lining on the upper door cards.

Is it practical?

Like many EV manufacturers, Leapmotor has also jumped on the bandwagon of adding a touch of quirkiness to vehicle access. While the C10 comes with a conventional key fob, it can also be unlocked and started using an NFC key card. It might feel novel at first, but the process is less intuitive than simply using the key fob. You need to tap the card against the sensor on the driver’s side mirror to unlock the car, then place it on the NFC reader in the centre console before driving away.

We expect most owners to use the key fob as their primary means of access, with the NFC card serving as a backup or for sharing the car with family members or friends.

As an upright, two-box SUV, the C10’s cabin space is one of the most spacious not just in the EV space but also the wider medium SUV segment. There’s plenty of headroom all around, with the rear seats afforded with generous leg, knee and toe-room.

Further back, the boot measures 581 litres for the C10 BEV and 546 litres for the C10 REEV. That’s larger than key EV rivals except for the Model Y. Drop the rear seats and the space expands to 1,410 litres for the BEV and 1,375 litres for the REEV. The design of the boot is wide and square, making it practical for bulky items such as prams and luggage, although it doesn’t offer a front boot like certain EVs.

What technology does it have?

A large tablet-style centre touchscreen has become a hallmark of modern EVs, and the C10 is no exception. It has a 14.6-inch ultra high-definition touchscreen infotainment system from which the vast majority of the car’s functions is controlled, including climate control, drive settings, navigation and media playback.

It looks cool and modern, but we find ourselves missing physical controls throughout our week-long possession of the cars. On the move, it’s just easier to rotate a knob to adjust the cabin temperature or turn a lever to alter the air flow direction of the vents. Yes, even the latter is operated from the touchscreen!

While the infotainment touchscreen is very responsive to the touch and has fast processing, it isn’t the most intuitive. The home screen is mostly taken up by a wallpaper, leaving the menu buttons and climate controls spread out over a thin horizontal strip at the bottom of the screen. As a screen meant to be operated on the move, it’d be more user friendly if the on-screen controls were larger. Navigating away from the home screen, the interface is more akin to that of a tablet, which means scrolling through a myriad of icons to find the right one to tab. Again, not the most straight forward.

On the flip side, the vast on-sceen real estate is perfect for displaying the map. When navigating via the built-in navigation, you’re able to see so far ahead and so much of the surrounding area.

The on-board map is the only one available to use though, as Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are not supported. Yes, this is a significant omission and Leapmotor has confirmed that the current hardware doesn’t support them.

The 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster is just as high resolution as the centre screen. However, save for the speed readout and drive selector position everything else is too small to be effortlessly legible. The driving data on the right side of the cluster is particularly frustrating, with the text so tiny that you might as well not bother trying to read it while driving.

Another bugbear we have is the surround-view camera. The images stitched together from the various cameras can look a little disjointed and misaligned, which makes for a less-than-pleasant viewing experience.

How does it drive?

Where the Leapmotor C10 excels is in the way it drives. It’s refined and quiet for the most part, with a well judged suspension tuning that delivers good ride and handling balance. Despite being rear-wheel drive only, there’s plenty of grip to inspire confidence around the bends.

Like most EV however, the driving feel is still very digital and isolated. The steering wheel for instance, while accurate, lacks feedback. There isn’t much communication from the brake pedal either.

With 220kW / 360Nm on tap for the C10 Design BEV, the dash from zero to 100km/h isn’t going to set the road on fire, with it stopping the clock at around 7 seconds (6.2 seconds claimed). The 158kW / 320Nm C10 REEV is a little behind at 8.5 seconds. While many EVs can accelerate quicker, the C10 is far from slow. In fact, its straight line performance is completely adequate for day-to-day driving.

A few other things to note, the drive settings and preferences don’t stick, they reset each time the car is turned off. Driving assistance like lane keep assist and radar cruise control are also a little nervous, they can certainly do with better calibration.

What is the driving range?

For 2026, the C10 BEV has a claimed WLTP range of 510km (an improvement from the pre-2026 model’s 420km), while the C10 REEV can travel up to 145km on electric power alone and up to 970km when combining battery and petrol power. In the real world the REEV’s electric range is more like 90-110km depending on how many auxiliaries are in used. Still, it’s total range is around 1,000km and that’s impressive even in plug-in hybrid standard.

Comparing apples with apples, the C10 BEV’s range is 44km more than the Tesla Model Y RWD’s 466km range but trails the Sealion 7 Premium’s 567km range by 57km. On test, the C10 BEV averaged about 15kWh/100km which is pretty decent for medium SUV.

What about charging?

The updated 2026 C10 BEV also brings a significant charging upgrade, with its 800V architecture supporting up to 180kW DC charging. Leapmotor claims a 30–80 per cent charge can be completed in around 22 minutes, giving it a charging advantage over the Sealion 7 Premium, while almost matching the Model Y’s charge time.

The C10 REEV supports DC charging up to 64kW, taking around 18 minutes to replenish from 30 to 80 per cent. Using its on-board 6.6kW AC charger, charging time for the same charging window is around 3 hours.

What is the warranty and servicing like?

All C10 models come with a 6-year and 150,000km limited factory warranty. Servicing interval for the BEV is 20,000km or 12 months, while the REEV’s frequency is every 10,000km or 12 months.

Verdict

2026 Leapmotor C10 Pricing and Specification

Price (excl. on-roads)	From: $43,888 C10 Style REEV: $43,888 C10 Style BEV: $45,888 C10 Design REEV: $47,888 (tested) C10 Design Long Range BEV: $49,888 (tested)
Warranty	6 years / 150,000 km
Warranty Customer Assistance	8 year roadside
Country of Origin	China
Service Intervals	12 months/20,000km
Power Unit	C10 Design BEV: 81.9 kWh battery, 220kW / 360Nm C10 Style BEV: 69.9 kWh battery, 160kW / 320Nm C10 REEV: 1.5-litre petrol generator, 28.4 kWh battery, 158kW / 320Nm
Transmission	Reduction gear
Drivetrain	Rear-wheel drive
Body	5-door SUV, 5-seats
Dimensions (L/W/H/W-B) mm	4,739/1,900/1,680/2,825
Kerb Weight (kg)	2,055